


every step i take, i let our love lead

by minimitchell



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29244945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minimitchell/pseuds/minimitchell
Summary: Ben has never thought much about fate.He has never really sat down and thought about his soulmate; the one person who’s supposed to be destined to be with him. He knows he still has one, the words etched on his ribcage right under where his heart sits remind him of that every time he catches a glance of them, but he isn’t interested in finding them.or, 5 times they weren’t meant to figure out they’re soulmates and the 1 time they do
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 23
Kudos: 88





	every step i take, i let our love lead

According to the Japanese legend of the Red String of Fate, a thread emanating from the heart doesn't end at the tip of the finger. It continues in the form of an invisible red string, which flows out of your pinkie and goes on to intertwine with the red strings of other people - connecting your heart with theirs.

Two people who are connected in this way are bound together by fate itself. **_Sooner or later, they are destined to meet, no matter how far apart they live or how much their life circumstances differ._ ** And, when it happens - that encounter is certain to profoundly affect both of them. The strings can sometimes stretch and become tangled, which could postpone the fateful meeting. But - those ties will never be broken.

**[1]**

Ben has never thought much about fate. 

He has never really sat down and thought about his soulmate; the one person who’s supposed to be destined to be with him. He knows he still has one, the words etched on his ribcage right under where his heart sits remind him of that every time he catches a glance of them, but he isn’t interested in finding them.

There are loads of people who never consciously find their soulmate and they end up being just as happy. He’s seen it before - his dad and Sharon aren’t soulmates, Sharon’s late husband was hers and his dad has never cared to find out who’s his in the first place, but they’re still happily married. Ben himself was so incredibly happy with Paul before he was murdered, despite the fact he wasn’t Ben’s soulmate.

So yeah, Ben doesn’t really care about finding the person that’s supposed to be his destiny, determined at birth by some sort of magical force. He isn’t going to be one of those desperate people signing up for one of those reality shows Lola loves to watch, where people travel all over the globe to try and find their soulmate.

Because that’s the thing; just because everyone has a soulmate doesn’t mean they’re in the same country or even on the same continent as you are. And despite what the legends say, he isn’t sure that every person ends up making contact with their soulmate at least once in their life - no matter how fleeting. 

He doesn’t believe it himself, but he can kind of understand the conspiracy theorists who believe that the soul bond is just a clever ploy from the tourism industry to get people to travel the world.

Ben doesn’t care about the whole shebang. It’s all overhyped and riddled with hypocrisy. People always talk about finding their soulmate and how they’re the only person that really understands them. Ben thinks it’s all bullshit; he has friends and family that understand him. He has mates like Jay that feel more like a soulmate than any lover in his life ever did.

But no one ever talks about the soul bond between friends or family. No one makes documentaries about the people finding out their soulmate is their best friend or their cousin or a friend they made over the internet, because only the romanticized version perpetuated by the media and through bedtime stories is worth mentioning somehow.

So no, Ben doesn’t care for it. He sees the black words on his skin for just that, _words_ , and not for the first thing your soulmate says to you. Maybe he’d feel differently if he wasn’t one of those unfortunate people whose soul mark is painfully general; the simple _‘sorry’_ on his chest not giving him much to go on in terms of figuring out who his soulmate is. How are you supposed to find your one true person this way?

He has always heard that there’s a moment where you’ll just _know_ you have found your soulmate; a feeling spreading through your body you can’t replicate. No one can really explain how it feels, can define _how_ exactly you’re supposed to know, only that you do once the time comes.

Again, bullshit.

Ben runs his finger over the condensation running down his pint glass, catching the moisture on his skin before wiping his hand on his jeans. He’s only here for the weekend, paying a visit to his parents and to Jay before heading back up to Newcastle again, and he can’t deny that he misses Albert Square as weird as that sounds.

He doesn’t regret his decision to move up north with Lola and Lexi to be with them and to be the father his daughter deserves, but he does miss the familiarity and security of living here. His family is here, people he grew up with are here and most importantly Jay is here. 

But unfortunately so are most of the memories he can’t bear anymore. Memories of happy days spent in bed, kissing the man he thought he’d spend the rest of his life with. But just like it always happens with Ben, life had other plans. His life feels lighter in Newcastle, less weighed down by images hiding around every corner. Maybe one day they feel like they can return but for now, it’s weekends and sporadic visits only.

He’s sitting with Jay in one of the booths in the Vic, hidden away from most of the other punters here so they don’t get interrupted by people wanting to catch up with Ben or asking how Lexi is doing. He knows they should really slow down with the drinks if he wants to make the drive early enough to read Lexi her bedtime story tomorrow but he’s enjoying himself too much to stop Jay every time he gets up to get another round in.

It’s several pints and a few shots later that the conversation turns to Ben’s love life and the soul mark he steadfastly ignores. Jay, ever the hopeless romantic, tries to convince him to find someone steady again, maybe even try to find his soulmate. There are apps for it, like Facebook but for soul marks, but Ben doesn’t think it would prove to be successful in his case - there are way too many things that could be the counterpart to his _sorry_.

Apparently, his insistence on not being interested in finding his soulmate brings Jay to a different solution and he finds himself idly scrolling through Ben’s Tinder options while Ben tries to convince him not to message any blokes on there.

“Come on, I don’t even live here. I don’t want no bloke from the East End.”

“Maybe you’d move back down here if you did. Win-win, I’d say.”

Ben rolls his eyes but he lets out a little puff of laughter at the retort. He knows it’s just banter; Jay always respected his decision to move away even if he can’t hold back his jabs about them moving back hopefully soon.

“You really wanna cart me off to a hookup tonight? I must say that hurts, brother.”

Jay reaches over to slap his chest, nearly knocking over Ben’s drink with his tipsy movements, making Ben giggle from deep within his chest. He’s missed hanging out with Jay like this, just chatting and having a laugh. He doesn’t really have friends in Newcastle, apart from Lola he supposes, just his daughter and random men keeping him company otherwise and he never noticed just how much he misses having his brother around.

“I’m just scouting the options for you, bruv. Be thankful, yeah.”

Ben lets him because he knows Jay can’t make much damage. The worst thing that could happen is him maybe getting some dick pics that will no doubt scar Jay for life but tide Ben over until the next hookup.

“Oh, look at this one.”

Jay turns Ben’s phone towards him, letting him see the profile open on his screen. It’s for a guy named Callum, 28 years old and only a few miles away apparently. The picture accompanying the profile shows a pretty guy, with a wide smile and shiny blue eyes. His brown hair is swept neatly to the side and there’s a dimple on his cheek, just barely visible. The photo is badly cropped, half of the bald guy standing next to this Callum still visible, and somehow that just seems endearing to Ben, fitting perfectly into the picture the guy’s photo creates of him.

The little description underneath his photo doesn’t give much away, only three simple lines reading ‘ _my brother made me get this. not really looking for something temporary, sorry :)_ ’. It makes Ben scoffs, because does this guy really think he’ll find guys looking for their big love on Tinder of all places?

“Guy’s a little too rose-colored for me, I think. I don’t really do nice, you know.”

“You might want to one day.”

It’s at times like this Ben remembers how different their concepts of the future are. Jay is very much the white picket fence, kids and wife sort of guy whereas Ben prefers not to be tied down by something like a boyfriend. Ben tried that, and he liked it while he had it, but it’s obviously not meant to be for him.

“Just look at the rest of his pics, he’s a chef or something.”

Jay’s other hand snakes around the phone but he must mix up the directions in his alcohol-fueled state because he’s about to swipe on the whole profile.

“Wait, that’s not- you just swiped him away.”

Ben watches the profile disappear towards the red x, now lost in the vast sea of tinder profiles here in London. Jay looks like a fish staring at the screen of Ben’s phone, obviously needing a moment to process what he’s just done.

The look on his face makes Ben splutter out a laugh, the guy and his profile almost completely forgotten already. Jay looks like he just dropped his keys into a manhole or something, completely befuddled, staring at the phone in disbelief.

“Ben. I’m sorry, that could’ve been your future husband right there.”

It makes another bout of laughter splutter out of him, cackling at Jay over-exaggerating everything so dramatically. Jay hands him back his phone and Ben minimizes the app and pockets his phone straight away. Out of sight out of mind and all that.

“In that case you owe me another pint, mate.”

Ben watches him trudge over to the bar, still amused about Jay being so dramatic about a thing they’ll forget in less than five minutes probably. It’s just some guy, one of many more out there, and Ben wasn’t interested anyway.

He doesn’t waste any more thoughts on that though, leaning back in the booth and letting the bustle of the pub around him overtake while he waits for another beer.

He’s gonna miss this back home.

**[2]**

Airports have never been among Ben’s favorite places, not by a long mile. There’s always a screaming kid or a couple snapping at each other somewhere and the whole process of flying really is the most stressful part of any holiday. Not that he actually went on holiday.

He spent a week down in Portugal with Louise and Peggy, visiting his sister for his niece’s birthday. It definitely felt more like work than pleasure, even if the nappy changing happened not far from the beach. It was good to see his sister again though, they only have the occasional Facetime call since they both moved away from Walford and it still amazes him sometimes how grown up she’s become - complete with baby and fiancé.

He’s more than ready to head home now though; he can’t wait to see his daughter again and not get woken up by a baby screaming her lungs out in the middle of the night. He only has to make it through a couple hours of flying and then he’s finally reunited with his own family.

Ben’s already standing in line for boarding when he hears distant arguing, paying it no further mind until the voices rapidly become louder and closer.

“Stu, I told you this isn’t the right gate. Shit, we’re gonna miss our flight.”

“Calm down, bruv. We’ll figure it out, okay.”

Something, or maybe someone, knocks into him from behind, almost making him careen into the older man in front of him with the force that makes him trip. It makes him lose the grip on his phone, clattering to the floor in front of him. He bends to pick it back up, hoping it isn’t shattered too badly since his boarding pass is on it, when another hand grabs it before him.

Ben looks up at the man holding his phone out to him; at the bright red climbing up on his face and the wide, blue eyes open in shock.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

“No worries.”

He accepts his phone again, pressing the side button to make sure everything is still intact and working, looking back up at the guy once he reassured himself of just that. There’s something familiar about the guy’s face although he can’t really place whatever it is. Maybe he just has one of those familiar faces.

“Thanks.”

The guy waves him off, a shy smile on his face now that he’s sure he isn’t gonna get decked by Ben probably. It seems like he’s about to turn around and leave again when the guy hesitates for a second, facing Ben again.

“You don’t happen to know where the next flight to Gatwick is at? Me and my brother are a bit lost.”

The guy’s voice sounds a bit sheepish, an undertone of embarrassment mixed in with it, and he’s motioning his thumb vaguely towards the guy standing a few feet behind him reading the signs around him frantically. The guy is bald with a bright-red sunburn on his skin telling Ben they must’ve been on holiday here in Portugal.

The man seems a fair bit older than the bloke standing in front of him though. They make an odd pair but Ben isn’t really one to judge - it’s not like him and all his siblings really fit together.

“Nah, sorry, mate. But if it’s BA it must be around here somewhere.”

“Thanks anyway.”

Ben gives the guy a nod and watches him walk away and back to his brother, joining the guy in studying the board in front of them. He’s about to get out his phone and just google their flight to help them out - he doesn’t even know why, he isn’t usually the most helpful guy there is - when the woman behind him in line pointedly clears her throat.

He chances a glance at her, taking in the annoyed look she’s throwing at him, before noticing there’s a large gap between him and the man in front of him now and Ben takes three, four, steps to catch up and close the distance again.

The guy isn’t his problem and neither is whether they manage to find their gate or not. Ben doesn't even know why he’s supposed to care about it but for some strange reason he does. He almost finds himself hoping they’ll make it back home to their family, their friends. He shakes it off though, not sure where this change of personality is suddenly coming from. Maybe he’s just being sentimental because he’s terribly missed his own family this week.

By the time he drops into his seat on the plane, staring out onto the tarmac and the ocean just barely visible in the distance, he has almost forgotten about the guy and his pretty, blue eyes.

Almost.

**[3]**

In June the following year, Lola, Ben and Lexi make the move back to Walford. They’ve talked about it a lot in the couple of months prior; about what it would mean for their jobs, if Ben is ready for it again, if they could justify taking Lexi away from her friends at school. His daughter had been ecstatic at the idea though, happy to move back to her grandparents and other members of their families.

They talk it over with Ben’s parents and Lola’s grandad. Lola is promised a job at a salon close to the square when they get back and his dad and Jay are all too happy to have Ben work with them at the car lot and at the Arches again. His dad even finds them a house on the square that isn’t too expensive, ready for them to move into whenever they’re ready to make the drive down to London.

It all sounds too good to refuse and when they both agree it’s time to move back home, they do so without looking back. They move back down here with a van full of stuff and just like last time, Ben leaves behind some painful memories and scorched earth. Another relationship foiled by the wrong words written across his chest and the guy’s inability to move past that fact.

It doesn’t hurt as much this time though. This time, he understands when the guy tells him he wants to find his soulmate and doesn’t just want to bide his time with Ben and his insistence that Ben should try to find his soulmate as well doesn’t make him sneer for the first time since Paul.

Maybe he’s also growing up and accepting that he can’t block out the whole soulmate topic forever. The older you get, the more people feel they’re entitled to ask you about your soulmate and although he’s only 26, the questions slowly but surely start to come. Granted, they mostly came from older women at his former job or the teachers at Lexi’s school once they found out Ben and Lola weren’t actually a couple, not even soul bound, but they were coming nevertheless.

They all settle in just fine. Ben splits his time at the car lot and the garage and their family jumps in whenever he and Lola both have to work late, getting Lexi from school and bringing her home. It feels good to have a support system again; they can both finally work more hours and earn more money for their family this way without having to worry about leaving Lexi with a virtual stranger.

Ben also gets to bask in the wide variety of men London has to offer, consciously staying away from anything more serious this time though. After a rare, long night of drinking way too many cocktails with Lola he even downloads that stupid soul mark app even if he refrains from actually signing up, the application sitting idle on his home screen.

He still isn’t looking for his soulmate, still couldn’t really give a toss about it all, but he doesn’t resent the idea anymore. Maybe it is in fact growth.

It’s not really on his mind at the moment though. He focuses on spending time with his daughter and his parents now that he’s back in their vicinity. He goes for drinks with Jay after work, joins Phil, Sharon and Denny for dinner some days and makes a new friend in Frankie, who works at the gay bar his mum owns.

Lola starts hanging out with the other girls on the square, mostly Whitney and Chantelle, and one day after work she tells him about the chef in this little restaurant they went to the other day, close to the salon. Apparently, the guy who owns it is not only cute but super nice and when Ben teases her about having a crush on the guy she also tells him that he’s gay.

He’s trying to coordinate whether he or Lola is going to pick Lexi up from Kathy’s today, all while trying to find a movie for them to watch later, when he bumps into someone stepping out of the side passage leading to the backroom of the Vic, the one that leads to the flat upstairs. Ben wants to look up and apologize but his phone takes that exact moment to ring.

“Sorry.”

The voice coming from the guy he ran into is smooth and soft and there’s something that feels immediately familiar to Ben, just a brief flash of recognition somewhere in the back of his mind. The confusion only lasts for a second though, replaced by more pressing matters like the phone still ringing in his hand.

“No worries, mate.”

He doesn’t look up again until he accepts the call, side stepping the man and making his way down the market again - the next person he could bump into might not be so forgiving. He presses the device to his ear and rushes out a greeting to Lola on the other end of the line, hurrying along the sidewalk. He thinks he can hear someone behind him shout _wait_ but the sound of it is weak and far away, his hearing aid not picking it up completely under all the other noises of the market and traders around him.

He’s thinking about turning around to make sure it wasn’t directed at him but Lola distracts him and he ultimately decides to let it go; whoever it is will find him anyway, it’s not like the square is big.

It was probably nothing important anyway.

Whatever it was, it can wait.

**[4]**

The deep bass of the music is pulsing through the room, deafening any conversation you could have near the dancefloor and making it hard to order another round of drinks for Ben. He’s on a date; it’s nothing serious, only a guy who brought his car in for an inspection and asked him out afterwards and Ben didn’t say no fast enough. He’s just glad his mum and Frankie aren’t working today; he doesn’t think he’d survive their constantly checking in on him and his _date_ or any teasing about how it’s going.

He doesn’t really want to be here, his mood had soured immediately when the first thing the guy had brought up was his soul mark, Ben refusing to give any further information besides the fact they don’t match, but maybe he can at least make a one night stand out of it. Scratching the itch and all that romantic stuff.

Lola is here as well, meeting up with that guy Callum from the restaurant she’s apparently befriended in the last couple of weeks, but he lost her the second they came through the door. He thinks she’s somewhere upstairs or something. He just told her to message him if the guy starts doing anything funny - you never know with men.

She had only rolled her eyes at him when he suggested it though, assuring him that this Callum is a really nice bloke. It seems that he’s something like Mick Carter’s surrogate son so he can’t be too bad of a guy, Ben reckons. Still, that’s the mother of his child there and he’s better safe than sorry.

It takes almost ten minutes until he finally gets his Rum and Coke and the guy’s cocktail served to him and he grabs both glasses in a huff, ready to get back to his date. Only, luck is not on his side tonight because he, quite literally, runs into someone when he turns around. The contact makes the long cocktail glass tip over and spill onto Ben’s black shirt, coating him in a mix of pineapple juice and coconut liquor.

He’s about to cuss the guy out when he takes a good look at him and stops in his tracks. The wide, blue eyes, the blush on his cheeks, the brown hair - he knows the guy from somewhere. Maybe he’s a regular here, which means he can’t just start a fight with him. Especially not when his mum isn’t here to stop him from being barred.

“Sorry. Oh my god, I’m sorry. Let me get you a tissue or something.”

The guy leans over the bar to get the bartender’s attention and returns only a moment later with a small stack of napkins, handing over some of them to Ben before he gently starts dabbing at the wet spots on Ben’s arm.

“No worries. I should’ve looked where I was going, really.”

Ben is still trying to wrack his brains for where he might know the guy from and if he’s ever seen him in here before, but he just can’t make the connection. He thinks he saw the same spark of recognition in the guy’s face before, but he might just be mistaken.

They clean Ben up as best as they can with the few cursory napkins they got and when they look back up again, their eyes meet almost instantly. Ben is a little lost in the blue of them, they’re so bright and clear it’s almost mesmerizing, and his gaze drops down the guy’s pink lips on its own accord.

It seems like the guy notices it as well, because he’s darting his tongue out to carefully trace over his bottom lip before his mouth curls into a small, private smile. He cocks his head to the side and regards Ben for a second before seemingly making his mind up about something.

“Let me buy you a drink to make up for it?”

Ben is about to say yes to the guy’s offer, almost too enthusiastic for his own liking, until he remembers that the drink that’s now partly down his shirt actually belongs to the guy he’s supposed to be on a date with. The guy that’s probably still waiting for Ben at their table off to the side.

He may be a lot of bad things but he’s not going to get a drink from a guy when he’s on a date with a different guy.

“I’m here with someone…”

Ben hopes the guy can detect the regret in his voice, can maybe even tell that Ben would otherwise jump at the chance, but the bloke just nods in understanding, taking a step back from Ben and when exactly had they gotten so close to one another anyway?

“Oh, sorry. Um, have a great night though. And sorry again for the spill.”

Ben watches him turn around and head back upstairs with something akin to disappointment, taking in the way the guy shakes his head while walking up the stairs and disappearing from view. The man was cute, gorgeous even, and probably way better company than the guy he’s currently on a date with.

He chooses not to dwell on that for longer than necessary, knowing that thinking in what-ifs doesn’t do him any good, and orders another round of drinks. This time, he’s successful in bringing them to his date, waving off any questions about what took him so long with a short ‘ _don’t worry about it_ ’.

They fall back into some easy chit-chat but for some strange reason Ben can’t get those blue eyes out of his head. Or the pretty smile on the guy’s face when he wanted to buy Ben a drink. He finds himself thinking about the bloke so much that he completely misses what Brian - he thinks - is saying in front of him time and time again, with the man getting increasingly annoyed at Ben’s behavior.

He can’t help it though. There’s something about the bloke from before he can’t place, no less forget about. Like yeah, he’s fit but that’s not it; there’s something else, something more, that draws Ben in; that makes him want to go upstairs and search for the man he can’t seem to get out of his head after only a couple minutes in his vicinity.

“Ben? Did you hear anything I just said to you?”

He notices too late that he’s been staring over at the direction of the bar, thoughts entirely consumed by that mystery man. The thing that brings him back is his supposed date getting out of his seat and putting his jacket on, a deep frown on his face.

“Your mind is clearly elsewhere. Have a good night, Ben.”

“Wait.”

Ben’s protest is weak if anything and he knows it, not even trying to go after the guy. After all, he didn’t even want to be here tonight. He thinks about just getting drunk by himself, no matter how sad that sounds, but ultimately decides to just text Lola. Explaining that his date left because Ben was daydreaming about some stranger surely isn’t the best first impression he can make on Lola’s new best friend Callum but he’ll take it over hanging out here alone any day.

He sends her a quick text to ask if they’re still here, downing the rest of his drink while waiting for her response. When it doesn’t immediately come he gets up from the table as well and makes his way through the club, squeezing through the little spaces available in the sea of people dancing and chatting to get to the stairs leading to the upstairs of the club. He has to awkwardly step around a girl defiantly sitting on the stairs staring at her phone in his quest to get up there and looks around the smaller space once he makes it there.

The upper level of the club isn’t as big as the downstairs, with fewer people milling around up here where the music is low and the lights aren’t as blinding. A group of girls is smoking on the little balcony outside and there’s a couple of girls making out in one of the booths to the left - but no trace of the guy he bumped into earlier.

Ben doesn’t know what he expected, maybe to run into the guy again like in some romance movie, and he has to swallow down the disappointment at things not working out like that in real life, at least not in his apparently.

His phone pings with an incoming message and the words flashing on screen don’t exactly lift his mood. Lola and Callum have just left to go back to his flat and Ben declines her invitation to join them there when he explains that his date was cut short. He doesn’t want to third wheel their evening; he’s not that desperate.

Ben takes one last glance around the upstairs, just in case the guy suddenly decides to appear out of thin air or something equally unbelievable, before he starts heading back home.

He guesses it just wasn’t meant to be.

**[5]**

“I’m telling you, you two would be perfect for each other. He also isn’t desperate to find his soulmate, he’s a chef, he likes kids. Just give him a chance, Ben, please.”

It’s become a regular occurence in their house lately, Lola begging him to let her set up a blind date between Ben and Callum. He gets that she means well, he really does, but Ben can think of a million things he’d rather do than be set up on a date by the mother of his child.

He’s sure the bloke is nice and all but he can’t be as perfect as Lola makes him out to be. Ben has heard it all before; the ‘ _I don’t care about soul marks_ ’ - attitude always falls apart at some point, it always ends up driving a wedge in any potential relationship he’s had. And a lot of times men like the idea of children until they actually witness the reality of it; hear the screams and tantrums or realize it means your life changes as well. 

In the end, they always leave once that realization kicks in.

He should’ve known better than to think Lola would eventually back down though.

Her pestering continues for a couple of days; she’s showing up at his work and even ropes his mum into trying to convince him. In the end, saying yes ultimately has more to do with getting her to finally shut up than his desire to actually get to know the guy. But he says yes to meeting him nevertheless.

Lola books them a table at this little burger place near the square, telling him a time and date that works for both of them and doesn’t stop squealing about it for the rest of the week. Ben doesn’t get what she’s so happy about; the date could very well still be a disaster where they have nothing to say to each other and decide not to see each other ever again.

Though that particular outcome doesn’t even seem to register in her mind.

She even goes as far as to tell him what to wear, standing in the doorframe of his bedroom and watching him go through his entire wardrobe one after one. They eventually compromise on a dark blue dress shirt and some dark jeans after Lola insists it brings out his eyes perfectly.

Ben is afraid he’s going to make a bad impression for being late, even if it’s not only five minutes later than what they agreed on, and he rushes into the little bistro completely out of breath. The restaurant isn’t too big and it doesn’t take much to take in every patron currently in there.

He can’t find anyone fitting the vague description Lola gave him of Callum.

And no one is sitting at the table reserved for them.

In fact, the only person anywhere near their agreed spot is a waitress wiping down the table and crumpling a small piece of paper left behind in her hand, stuffing it in the abandoned glass she’s cleaning up.

There’s a friendly smile on her face when she notices him coming close, gesturing for him to just sit down. He declines her offer of something to drink for now, wanting to wait for Callum to arrive. Maybe he’s running late as well.

After ten minutes, Ben starts getting restless and after another ten he decides to call it a day and declare the whole thing a bust. He doesn’t want to say he told Lola so, but it just confirms what he already experienced many times before. Men always change their minds about him in the end.

This time though, it hurts a bit more than before. Because the guy really did sound perfect and for a moment, a tiny spec of time, Ben was entertaining the thought of it all working out and him finally finding someone who _fits_ with him on his way over here.

One thing is for sure, he’ll never let Lola talk him into anything like this ever again.

**[+1]**

Ben isn’t sure what he did in a past life to be stuck with Lola in this one but it must be something really bad.

Because Lola only stops begging him to give Callum another chance once he agrees to letting her host her birthday party at their house this weekend.

Apparently, Callum had a family emergency that day - something about his brother having a baby or his baby being sick or something like that - and had to leave before Ben got there. He said he left a note for Ben but it doesn’t matter to him. He’s done with it all; done with getting his hopes up only for it not to work out the way he had imagined it to.

He isn’t too happy when Lola tells him she also invited Callum to her birthday but Ben decides to suck it up and play nice with him - for Lola’s sake.

The party is already in full swing when his life changes.

Lexi is spending the night at his dad’s place so they can have the house to themselves without worrying about her. It feels like half the square is here as well as Lola’s colleagues from the salon. It’s a far cry from their previous birthdays spent with just their little family of three, but it doesn’t feel as overwhelming as Ben had thought it would.

Instead, he’s happy. Happy for Lola that she has so many people who care about her. Happy to have friends and family surrounding them both again. Happy that one of the most important people in his life hasn’t stopped smiling all day. It tells him that they made the right decision in coming back here to Walford.

He’s in the kitchen with Jay, his back to the door and leaning against the counters next to the fridge, when it happens. When he meets him.

Lola’s voice cuts through their conversation, laughter dying down when they take in what she’s saying.

“Ben! Ben, this is Callum. Callum this is Ben I was telling you about.”

Ben turns around to face the man who stood him up only a couple of days ago, only to stop in his tracks once he lays eyes on the bloke in question. This time, he doesn’t have to think too hard about where he’s seen him before, because the time he bumped into him at the Albert comes straight into his mind. The eyes, the lips, the hair - it all fits perfectly. And he’s just as gorgeous as he was back then.

He’s sure his mouth drops open in surprise, eyebrows climbing up into his hairline, and the guy mirrors his expression, obviously just as surprised at seeing Ben tonight. His shocked face soon changes into a smile and he’s shaking his head like he can’t believe the coincidence.

Ben can relate to that feeling.

Lola seems confused about the reaction her introduction evoked from the two men but Jay - the only one Ben told about the guy at the club - seems to catch on much quicker, leading Lola away into the living room to give Ben and Callum some space. He really loves his brother.

“I’m sorry. For walking out on our date the other day. I had an emergency in my family - my brother and his wife had their baby that day. I was really looking forward to meeting you.”

“No worries. I understand.”

There’s a small, shy smile taking over Callum’s face, his cheeks taking on that little pink hue Ben’s seen before. He can’t explain why but Callum exudes this calmness and tranquility that’s always been missing from Ben’s life. He feels this invisible draw that makes him want to take a step closer to the man and let everything about him wash over him; lull him into this imaginary blanket of security.

“So you’re _the_ Ben.”

“Hm, and you’re _the_ Callum, eh. You finally gonna get me that drink now?”

It feels like just one look into Callum’s eyes makes Ben forget all about the resolutions he made to himself; about the way he was so sure they wouldn’t work out. It all seems far away right now.

“Gladly.”

They don’t stray far from another for the rest of the night; sitting next to each other on the couch when Lola gets to unpack all her presents, swaying together at the edge of the makeshift dancefloor in their living room and talking for hours about everything and nothing.

Lola finds them huddled together in the kitchen at one point, teasing them about how she knew they would be perfect for each other, but she thankfully gets dragged away by Whitney, who’s also giving them a bright grin once they leave. Ben only notices then that they’re the only ones currently occupying the kitchen and the temporary privacy makes him bold enough to do what he’s wanted to do for hours now.

Callum is in the middle of some story about his restaurant when Ben steps forward and lays his hands on where Callum’s blue shirt stretches over his chest, stopping the man in his tracks. Before Callum can question what he’s doing, Ben leans forward to press their lips together.

The kiss is soft and careful at first, Callum’s hands coming up to frame Ben’s face. It almost feels like electricity is shooting through Ben’s body at the touch, every nerve-ending in his body feeling like it’s on fire. The feeling punches a breath out of his mouth which Callum uses to run his tongue along Ben’s bottom lip.

He finally understands, finally gets, what people are talking about when they’re describing what finding your soulmate is like. Every touch of their lips, every press of Callum’s hands on his skin feels brand new yet familiar at the same time.

All this time, Ben’s never thought much of finding his soulmate but now that he has, right around the corner at that, he never wants to let him go again. He never wants to lose the feeling he has right now; this complete serenity and unity cursing through him. It’s almost like Callum’s heartbeat reverberates on his own skin, however unreasonable that sounds.

They stay close together once they part, only a few centimeters separating them, and the wide smile on Callum’s face confirms for Ben that he just felt this too.

“You’re my soulmate.”

These three little words are laced with a mixture of wonder and pure happiness and Ben isn’t even lying when it crosses his mind that they’re the best words he’s ever had the pleasure to hear.

“And you’re mine.”

Callum presses another peck to Ben’s lips, then another and another, until he seems content for the time being. One of his hands travels over Ben’s face, running his fingers over the features of his face like he can’t believe this is real.

“This is insane.”

Ben isn’t sure if he means them finding each other by chance or rather the whole concept of being so connected to another person all of a sudden; whatever it is, Ben knows he feels it too.

“Good insane or bad insane?”

Ben wraps his arms around Callum’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer to his own body. He doesn’t want any wasted space between them, not anymore.

“Insane in the best way possible.”

Their mouths find each other again, slow and gentle because they have the rest of their lives to kiss one another from now on. One of Callum’s hands runs down his neck and stops on his chest, right over the heart that’s beating in the same rhythm as his.

Things finally slide into place for him when Ben gets to undress Callum later that night and spots the little, black _no worries_ etched across his hip bone, opening up an onslaught of memories and almosts for them both.

He’s helpless to do anything but press a kiss against the ink before falling into the arms of his soulmate again, knowing he’s going to stay there for the rest of their life now.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading. <3  
> maybe leave a kudos or a comment if you liked it.
> 
> tumblr: minimitchell


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